Jacqueline Wells
ENG1A
Professor Monique
Williams
22 December 2013
Social
Capitalism: A Positive Solution To A Struggling America
Where
one is born is random, and whether they are born into a world of wealth or one
of misery is left entirely up to chance. In Finland, expectant mothers receive
a box from the government, filled with all the necessary tools for baby care.
The theory is that each person entering the world deserves an equal starting
point. One born in America is either not so fortunate or vastly better off.
Like a flip of a coin, a child’s life is mapped down a fixed road, and seldom
are there any major forks to a better direction. For those whose paths include
college, the wealthy and the wary may chance to intermingle and stand equally
as intellectual giants, but not before the economic binary has established the
elitist status-quo of affordability versus affluence. College has been long
revered as the definitive answer to the question of how to make a better life
for oneself. If we break open the vault
that holds the vast majority of the nation’s wealth and redistribute it to fund
public colleges and eradicate the student loan system, we will see the demolition
of intellectual entitlement bred from the wealthy, and a foundation for unified
knowledge and success for all. Ushering
in this period of true competition and economic growth would result in two
things: achieving the dream of the proponents of true capitalism, while simultaneously
indulging in socialist theory. A solution is defined as a mixture of two or
more substances. To solve a problem, the answer generally lies in a compromise
between conflicting entities. In this case, a solution between socialism and
capitalism will be the only way in which we may observe the cessation of oppressing
a struggling “student class,” and the reestablishment of economic balance.
Capitalism
was hefted aloft on the backs of laborers in the same way that it was raised in
the glass of the beneficiaries. The premise was idealistic and inspired: Work
hard, go to school, climb the corporate ladder, and bask in success. The
problem lay in the giant hole in the system: The ladder is narrow and far out
of reach. Every person cannot become the CEO, or the latest Cinderella story of
rags to riches on the evening news. Nevertheless, the latest generation of
American college students has sacrificed their futures in order to enable them.
They have submerged themselves in easily attainable student loans in order to
fund their education and even their living expenses, all with the hope of
achieving The American Dream of success, wealth, and by extension, happiness. But measuring the economic successes of
socialist-oriented countries overseas is not solely accounted for in money. It
is measured in the socioeconomic happiness and prosperity of the effected
society. The general welfare of a nation’s citizens is paramount to the purpose
of government; it is written in our U.S. Constitution. “Ensuring domestic
tranquility” does not mean that few should retain financial prowess at the
sacrifice of many. “Providing for the common defense” does not mean that the
progressive ideas that have been cultivated and nurtured in our classrooms
should fall silent on ears tuned only to the ringing of the Wall Street bell. “With
50 million Americans under siege, we must move from the asylum of denial into
the stadium of game-changing action” (Smiley and West 202). Taking the control
away from those who are starving this country from growth via P.A. for-profit private
organizations and greedy politicians will be the only manner in which we can start
any real reform.
In
order to crush the financial chains binding students to their destinies, it is
imperative that we break the handshake between capitalism and education. A
college system funded by U.S. tax dollars will ignite a healthy cycle of
cash-flow, watering the aspirations of many by creating jobs and harvesting
progression, meanwhile opening the floodgates for other social programs to blossom,
such as healthcare, better welfare, and homeless shelters. Keeping knowledge
closed and out of reach to the underprivileged is itself grossly oppressive,
and may further be construed as an act of slavery, however unconventional. The
master in this case has many faces, many names, and many dollars. We are the
slaves, and college students are simply indenturing themselves in a desperate attempt
to mitigate the chaos that is our economic system (College Conspiracy 1). In so
doing, free government-funded colleges will provide for an equal launching pad
for adults who are emerging into the working world, just as the Finnish babies emerge
as equals at the start of their lives. “We can boldly imagine the unimaginable
only if history serves as our touchstone” (Smiley and West 168). If we stay the
course of blindly cowing to the capitalist script, there will be no opportunity
for any change. History has established that this system benefits very few. Changing
it will require not only a revolution in economics, but also one of imagery. Socialism
is not the master. Government is not the master. The masters of the universe
are the ones slipping money into the pockets of the lawmakers and the diplomats.
As students financially enslaved for the rest of their lives, it is clear that
the mission of our founding fathers has fallen to the wayside in lieu of monetary
success. To overthrow the system, Americans need only refer to the preamble of
the U.S. Constitution, and reevaluate the singular purpose of the document:
ensure freedom for all.
Works
Cited
College Conspiracy. National
Inflation Association, n.d.
Lee, Helena. "Why Finnish
Babies Sleep in Cardboard Boxes." BBC News Magazine 4 June 2013: n. pag.
Print.
Smiley, Tavis, and Cornel West. The
Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto. New York: Smiley, 2012. Print.
